How to get your pic to be a Photo of the Day

Ever wonder who makes the decisions about which photos get featured on the homepage of YourClimbing.com? Which ones get picked as "Post of the Week"? And what criteria we use?

Well, I am one of the folks who makes the homepage decisions; the other is Neal Young, the site's editorial and community manager. Neal usually selects Post of the Week. And everyone who comments positively on photos posted to the site has a say, since we pay close attention when folks start praising a picture. (Many of our Post of the Week selections were made because of your recommendations.)

While I am not a professional photographer, I have over the lifetime of this website developed a pretty good eye for good climbing photography as a result of my reviewing duties. (And there's a bit of photojournalism training back in my college days.)

For what it's worth, here are 10 tips for creating outstanding climbing pics that will probably show up on the YourClimbing homepage as a "Photo of the Day," if not be pegged for higher honors (and prizes), and get lots of oohs and ahhhs.

1. Keep the climber out of the center of the photo! OK, I guess I'm starting with a pet peeve. The sign of a mediocre photographer is often that the subject (usually the climber) is smack dab in the middle of the frame. Putting the person in the middle of the viewfinder is the obvious point-and-click reaction, but that means you're not paying attention to the whole frame. Usually you'll want to put the climber off-center, and position him/her in context to the surroundings -- using them to tell the story.

Look at the photo below, where the climber is not centered, and notice how it's a better picture because of that. The photographer took in and thought about the entire frame, with the climber being just one (important) element.

photo by emglowiak

Here's an even better example with the climber much further off-center...

photo by gssettles

2. Capture the climber's intensity and focus. Much of the appeal of climbing is the complete focus it takes to succeed (aka, not fall). So try to capture that when you're shooting a closeup of a climber in action. The photo below got lots of kudos for capturing this climber's look of steely resolve -- and the unusual body position and that it's in black-and-white add to the quality of this pic.

photo by booticoo

And here's another great example of capturing climber intensity. (Also notice how the off-center climber adds to the photo's appeal.) Nice!

photo by RockRat

3. Silhouettes: word! An inordinate number of climber silhouettes have appeared as YourClimbing Post of the Day picks, it seems. What can I say; we love them, when done well. Follow the other composition rules offered here, and pay attention to lighting. The photo below is probably the best silhouette we've seen on YourClimbing.com. The clouds look incredible, plus there's the bit of action with the rope caught mid-throw. (I assume there was some Photoshop tweaking involved with the lighting results in this one.)

photo by rcoisson

Here's another great one. Nice composition and the lighting of the non-dark portions of the pic is interesting and sort of other-worldly.

photo by grimpe partout

4. Go for the unusual. OK, we're suckers for quirky photos. This one of a climber ascending with no hands caught my attention and made it worthy of Post of the Day, even though the composition isn't that great.

photo by Robin

And here's another quirky one, but with great composition. The boat gives you an idea of how high the climber is; it wouldn't be as good of a pic without it. You might complain that the big area of sea to the left is wasted space, but I think it serves to put the action in perspective -- and it's pleasing to the eye.

photo by grimpe partout

5. Look for natural frames. A great tip from pro photographers is to pay attention to natural objects that can "frame" what you're shooting. The photo below, of YourClimbing enthusiast-in-chief Katie Brown, is a great example. Imagine this photo without the blurry green leaves framing her and the rock. It wouldn't be as compelling an image.

photo by John Dickey

6. Clothes make the climber. Of course, this isn't always practical, but if you can get your climber subject to wear clothes that contrast nicely with the rock, you'll probably end up with a better shot. Check out the pic below, to see what I mean.

photo by grimpe partout

Now look at the shot below, which is a great photo, but would have been a bit better if the climber stood out better with brighter clothes. (The photographer even commented on that in the caption: "I posted another pic at an earlier date of Jarod on this route, but this one really turned out better. The 'whip' of the rope in front of the waterfall is a cool effect. This was a gorgeous spot to climb, up at 9000 ft 30 miles north of Durango. Nice and cool in the heat of the summer. Again, Jarod, please wear bright colored shirts!!!!!!!")

photo by andychasteen

7. Get closer. The details of climbing and climbers are visually fascinating. Climbers' hands, especially when taped up and dinged or bloodied by the rock, make for compelling images.

Climbing gear is interesting, to say the least. So don't just take in the larger view. Yeah, the scary heights, gymnastic action, and great scenery are shutter-worthy. But so too are the details, the close-up of the climbing scene.

I liked this image below, which is not only funny, but expresses a lot about the climber about to appear over the cliff edge.

photo by Anykineclimb

(This photo does violate my Tip #1 about not centering the subject in the frame, but it works in this case. And none of these tips are meant to be steadfast.)

8. Learn the art of the crop. Ideally, every bit of the scene that's in the camera's viewfinder (or LCD screen) is what you want to have in the final picture. (You get the highest resolution that way for the final photo; when you crop after the fact in a digital editing program, you've got fewer pixels to work with and lower resolution.) So shoot with that in mind. But if the photo as taken is not perfect, don't be afraid to crop out superfluous parts of the image.

The photo below I think is cropped really well. There's enough of the river to get a sense of the scene and the height of the cliff. There's enough rock below the climber to show how high he is. There's no wasted space where the tourists are standing. The only crop improvement would be not to chop off the top of the head of the top-most tourist.

photo by rcoisson

9. Stop staring at her butt. How many "butt shots" have you seen of climbers? What ya gonna do when you're at the base of a climb looking up? Well, try to position yourself some other place, ideally, of course.

But if you are stuck at the bottom, just keep in mind that you don't want to take the classic climber butt shot. Try to shoot when the climber moves to a more pleasing position.

Not all butt shots are bad, though. The one below is a great photo: nice composition, good action, intense facial expression. Let's forgive the photographer for this one and instead issue a job well done.

photo by andychasteen

10. A few words about indoor climbing photos. Not that many pics of indoor climbing show up on YourClimbing.com's homepage. Perhaps it's a prejudice on my part, but compared to the spectacularity of nature's climbing spots, well, how can you come close to that? Outdoor urban climbing photos do tend to capture my attention more often, perhaps because it's such an unusual thing to see someone climbing a building or other urban structure.

But a few excellent indoor and climbing gym shots have made it out front. If you're shooting indoors, I offer these suggestions:

• Look for interesting and bright colors, like in the photo below. Have your climber wear something bright and wild.
• Get close in to your climber and focus on facial expressions and intense movements.
• Experiment with some special effects, like stop-motion shots of your climber going up a route, or use slow shutter speeds to capture a dyno or fall.

photo by andychasteen

The tips offered above were off the top of my head. If you want to dive deeper and get some advice from the pros, I found this great advice package from NationalGeographic.com: "Adventure Photography Tips." Good stuff, so check it out, too.

... OK, you've been advised. Now get out to the crag (or the building or whatever) and show us how it's done! Your audience awaits.

... And hey! This site is interactive, so let's hear your climbing photography advice. Share your tips in the Comments area below.